Orange y Telefónica reparten €17,45M para 5G rural en España

TL;DR: Spain's Ministry for Digital Transformation approved a provisional award of €17.45 million on 23 October 2026 under the 5G Redes muy rurales program, with Orange Espagne receiving €12.245 million and Telefónica Móviles España receiving €5.209 million. The funding covers 129 sites and 358 white-zone areas in rural municipalities with no existing 4G or 5G coverage and no planned commercial rollout in the next three years.

Spain's Ministry for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service approved a provisional resolution on 23 October 2026 for the first call of the 5G Redes muy rurales program, allocating €17.45 million in public subsidies for 5G deployment in isolated rural municipalities. Orange Espagne, S.A.U. received €12,245,203 for 82 sites and 220 eligible zones, while Telefónica Móviles España, S.A. received €5,209,301.96 for 47 sites and 138 zones.

Orange and Telefónica were the only companies to apply in the competitive process. The awards cover 129 sites and 358 zones across Spain, located in about 110 municipalities. The eligible budget was €17.9 million, while the operators submitted projects with a combined financeable budget of €26.09 million.

The program is funded mainly through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF/FEDER) and supports active equipment and auxiliary infrastructure for 5G mobile services in low-density population areas. Only white zones qualify: areas where no operator has signal or 4G or 5G networks, and where no commercial deployment is planned within the next three years.

Galicia received the largest regional allocation at more than €4.83 million, followed by the Canary Islands with €3.48 million and Castilla-La Mancha with €3.38 million. The resolution is provisional, and operators have 10 working days from the day after official notification to file objections, withdraw, or accept the subsidy electronically. If no objections are filed, the proposal will automatically become final.